And This is Why Physical Exercise Could Be Detrimental to Our Health
by Deliwiel
Summary: A hike up a mountainside could have dire consequences for our group of friends, though it's got more to do with an escaped convict chasing them more than anything else. JILL IS INCLUDED IN THIS STORY *also slight possible spoiler for 3x01 in my AN, but not the story itself. Rated T for my paranoia
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey friends! It's been a minute XD How've you all been?**_

 _ **So. I'm obviously still bitter about what happened to Jill, so I decided she needed more time with the gang. This won't be a terribly long story, probably only one or two more chapters, but I just wanted to give her more recognition than they gave her in the show.**_

"Mac, how much further?" Riley called from behind.

"Not too far, just another couple of miles," the blond answered. There were collective groans from the group, and Mac decided that it was probably a good time to take a break and rest their feet. "But we're gonna stop here for a few minutes." He announced this as if it had been his plan all along. Everyone let out a breath of relief and immediately collapsed, including Jack. Mac stared at his friend with an amused expression.

"What? I didn't sleep well last night," Jack defended.

"Yeah, plus the fact that you're about fifty years older than the rest of us, I figured it was a good idea to give you a break."

"Ha, ha, you keep talkin' like that, I'll show you how spry I can be," Jack threatened, though he made no move to get up.

While Mac and Jack were arguing, Riley leaned back and handed a bottle of water to Jill.

"Thanks," the Phoenix employee said as she accepted the drink. "And hey, thanks for letting me tag along with you guys. I love hiking!"

"Sure." Riley smiled as Jill handed the water back. It had been Mac's idea to invite Jill on their little weekend hike. She was as much of the team as the others, and he figured it would be a good idea to get to know her better.

"Boze, whatcha doin'?" Mac asked as he spotted his roommate starting to untie his boots.

"My feet are killin' me, Mac. I was just gonna massage 'em a little."

"Don't take your boots off," Mac warned. "Your feet'll swell, and then you won't be able to fit them back in the boot."

Bozer's face fell into a mostly-mock scowl. "Are you tryin' to kill us?" he accused jokingly.

Mac chuckled, but was spared answering when his phone dinged. "Hey, we got reception," he said.

"Finally," Riley said, pulling out her own phone. When she checked the screen though, and saw that she had four missed calls from Matty, her face fell. She looked up and saw that everyone was looking at their phones with the same dismayed look. "What do you think is going on?" the hacker asked.

"I've got a text from her," Mac said. As he read the text, his eyes widened slightly. "Woah. She says there was a prison transfer bus, but it crashed. Hold on, she's calling me now." He answered the phone and put it on speaker. "Hey Matty, you're on speaker."

"Thanks for finally answering," came their boss's tense reply.

"Sorry, we've been out of phone range for a while," Mac apologized.

"Did you get my text?"

"Yeah, we were just reading it. Any update on the bus?"

"Three of the prisoners escaped. Two have been caught and taken back into custody, but one is still on the loose. Carl Baude, convicted for armed robbery and involuntary manslaughter."

"No offense Matty, what does that have to do with us? Are we being called in on the manhunt?" Jack asked.

"Not officially. I thought I mentioned it earlier."

"Mentioned what?"

"The bus crashed just down the road from where you're hiking."

"Wait, do you have us on GPS?" Bozer asked, looking up in the sky for satellites.

"I _always_ know where you are, Bozer," Matty replied. Bozer looked at Jack for confirmation, who nodded seriously.

"It's true. She does."

"That's not the point," Matty stressed, bringing the conversation back around. "The _point_ is that you guys probably need to head back soon, just to be on the safe side."

"I mean, I'm game," Jack said. Mac rolled his eyes at his partner.

"Do we have a description of the escaped prisoner?" Mac asked.

"I sent it to Riley's email, since the text wouldn't go through," Matty replied. Riley opened her email and let it refresh.

"Got it." She opened the attachment and showed the picture to the group.

"Matty, we'll be on the lookout for him. We'll head back soon," Mac promised.

"Just … stay safe."

"Will do." The phone call was disconnected, and Mac looked at the group.

"I think we should head back," Jack stated. MacGyver didn't necessarily want to leave yet, but he definitely didn't want to make the others stay if they were uncomfortable.

He decided to let everyone else give their say. "Guys?"

Riley and Bozer shared a look, then glanced back at Mac. "I think we should head back," Bozer finally agreed.

"Not that I don't want to finish the hike, but I do think it would be a better idea for now," Riley added. Mac nodded, then looked to their last member.

"Jill?"

She looked up, almost like she was shocked to hear her name. "Oh, are … you want my opinion?"

"You're part of the group, you're part of the vote."

"Oh. Well, I uh … I think I'd prefer to go home for now," she said, giving MacGyver a sympathetic look. "We can come back and finish sometime though!"

"Alright," Mac said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's get going." He wasn't upset that they wanted to leave. He'd done the hike plenty of times before. They wanted to leave, and he didn't blame them. Maybe there was something wrong with him for wanting to stay out longer with an escaped convict on the loose, but he was also perfectly happy to go back to his house and put in a movie, maybe tinker with his motorcycle a little. Whatever they decided to do, he was fine with it.

 _0-0-0_

Bozer and Riley crossed the suspension bridge first. Jack headed across next, leaving Mac and Jill behind. The young man held his hand out for Jill to go. She took a few steps forward, but paused, staring warily at the bridge.

"Jill?" Mac prodded.

"Hm? Yeah. It's just … I'm, uh …"

Mac recognized the look on her face as she stared at the slightly unstable-looking bridge. "Hey." Mac put his hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. I'll be right behind you the whole time." Still, she hesitated, and Mac even noticed a slight tremor in her hands as she gripped the posts. "You know," Mac said, trying to make it sound casual. "I'm scared of heights too."

Jill looked back at him. "You are? I didn't know."

"Well, I try not to broadcast it," Mac said with a small smirk. "Something about a spy's worst fears becoming public knowledge just doesn't sound like the best idea."

"Guys," Jack called out, now on the other side of the chasm with Bozer and Riley. "You comin' or what?"

Jill looked at Mac, who gave her an encouraging nod. She turned forward, and with a deep breath, she took a shaky step out onto the wooden slats.

"I'm right behind you," Mac assured her as they started crossing.

They'd only gotten about halfway across the bridge when they suddenly heard a shout. Mac looked up, and was confused when he saw everyone staring at where they'd come from. It was Carl Baude.

The man seemed to sense that Mac knew out who he was, and he pulled a wicked looking piece of metal out of his waistband. Without waiting another moment, the escaped convict moved forward with lightning speed.

"Mac, watch out!"

Mac heard Jack's cry of warning. He looked back in time to see his friend running for them. "Jack, stay back!"

That was all he was able to say before Baude cut through one of the ropes holding the bridge up.

Jill let out a shriek as the bridge tilted sharply to one side, and Mac reached out, grabbing her backpack.

Baude was working on the second rope, and Mac knew he didn't have a lot of time. "Hold on!" he shouted as he wound his own hand through the ropes on the side of the bridge while still holding onto Jill's pack. Thankfully she did what she was told. Right in time, too. Mac swore he could hear the sickening snap of the rope as Baude cut through the last few strands. Then, they were falling.

 _ **:D Aw, c'mon! You all know you missed my cliffhangers! *pun fully intended.**_

 _ **Anyway, like I said before, I'm only planning this to have three, maybe four chapters, depending on how much I put them through ;) and it's a WIP for me, so updates won't be as regular as my other stories have been.**_

 _ **Anyone recognize this rewrite from the original series? :D**_

 _ **Aaaaallllsssooooo ... I knooooooow I need to finish Vixen. I just ... am struggling with it a little bit XD**_

 _ **Anyway. Let me know what you guys think of the story! Interested? Not interested?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Well. I am certainly glad you all seem so excited about this story! I was excited when I started it! And for all of you saying you're glad I'm back writing Mac again, thank you *Hugs* I'm glad to be back too! Feels like home writing for this fandom, is that weird? XD**_

 _ **Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews! You're all amazing and I love you.**_

It was a good thing MacGyver had wound his hand so tightly in the ropes, because when he and Jill smacked against the side of the cliff, Jill lost her grip on what she had grabbed. If he hadn't been holding onto her backpack, she would have plummeted, most likely to her death. Unfortunately, his weight, plus the added pressure of Jill's sudden stop was all caught in his hand that he'd entangled in the ropes, and he had to bite his cheek in order to stop his shout of pain. He couldn't help the strangled noise from his throat though. He shook his head, trying to clear the stars from his vision.

"Mac!"

Jack's shout hurt MacGyver's head, but he looked up anyway, squinting as the bright sun shone directly in his eyes. "Hold on, I'm gonna pull you guys up!"

Mac would have given his partner a thumbs up, but since both of his hands were currently occupied, he simply went for the nod. Unfortunately, the nod meant he looked down, and the rushing river below didn't do wonders for his already-queasy stomach.

He could worry about himself later though. Jill was clearly having a rough time handling the situation, and Mac knew if he didn't stop her from jerking around, one or both of them could end up falling before Jack could get them up. "Jill," he called out. "Jill, you've gotta stop moving. We're gonna be fine, but it's hard to hold on when you're thrashing around like that."

The girl was struggling to take in deep breaths, but Mac's call reached her ears, and she tried to stop moving. It wasn't a complete halt, but it was better for the blond, who tightened his grip on the backpack even more.

Jill's bag was one of the ones that could clip around your front, and earlier on in the hike she had done so to help take some of the pressure off her shoulders. That would prevent her from slipping out of the straps, at least for a few minutes. If they weren't pulled up soon though, Mac wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Thankfully, Jack began pulling on the bridge, and though the motions caused Jill to shriek slightly and burrow her head even further into her shoulder, both of them remained still.

MacGyver looked back up and saw all Jack, Bozer, and Riley all pulling on the ropes, and they were getting closer to the top with each passing second.

"Hold on, Jill," Mac said, clenching his teeth as his fingers started to cramp. The cramp spread up his forearm, but he pushed through the pain and held on, not willing to let go of the girl's backpack.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mac felt hands grabbing at him. He couldn't do much of anything in the way of helping them pull him up, but he did plant his feet against the boards on the bridge, intending to help walk him and Jill back up the cliff.

"Jill," he puffed, his arm beginning to tremble with the exertion. "Gonna need a little help."

Jill didn't say anything, but she did very slowly reach her hands up, giving Bozer and Riley a good opportunity to grab her and start to pull her to safety. Jack took care of Mac.

Thanks to the stress of the situation, Jill's hands were sweating, and Riley and Bozer almost lost hold of her once, but they dug deep and gripped her even tighter. Finally, Mac and Jill were hoisted over the top of the cliff.

Once they were on solid ground again, Mac scooched over to Jill, who was sitting straight as a pole, staring at the chasm that almost engulfed her and Mac, not blinking. Mac knew that feeling all too well. She just needed something to ground her (pun not intended, though Jack would have loved that, Mac thought to himself) back with them.

"Jill, it's over," he assured her. He gently grabbed her shoulder, his hand trembling slightly from the fear and adrenaline combination. When he touched her, she felt the shakiness in his hand, and she looked back at him. After a few moments, she took in a shaky breath and gave Mac a grateful smile.

"You guys okay?" Jack asked. Jill stared at Mac for another minute, but after his reassuring smile, she looked up at Jack.

"A … a little rattled, but I think I'll survive."

Jack nodded, then turned to his partner. "Mac?"

"I'll be good," Mac answered.

"Hold on," Jack said as he noticed the blond cradling his hands slightly as he got to his feet. Mac took a few steps away from Jill, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"It's fine," he muttered, trying to jerk away from Jack before his friend could see the extent of the damage. Unfortunately for him, he was facing off against Jack Dalton, and while Mac was strong and quick on his feet, he'd just been dangled over the side of a cliff for nearly five minutes, and his energy was gone. Jack easily caught ahold of his friend and gently pried Mac's other arm away, exposing the swollen, discolored, rug-burned hand.

"It's fine," Mac repeated softly but firmly, pulling his hand away from Jack, though he winced as the movement made his hand throb. Jack opened his mouth and was preparing a compelling argument when he caught where the blond was staring. Jill was finally getting to her feet with Bozer's help, and she glanced briefly over at MacGyver and Jack. Her eyes were rimmed red with barely controlled tears.

"You guys okay?" Riley asked as she picked up her pack again.

"Yeah, we're good," Mac replied, looking at Jack, silently begging him not to make a huge deal out of his hand. Jill wouldn't be able to handle it if she knew. Through his own silent form of communication, Jack let Mac know their conversation wasn't over, but that he wouldn't push it here.

"Yep, everything's good. Just brushing some of the dirt off," Jack confirmed. With his good hand, Mac clapped Jack on the shoulder briefly, thanking him. The blond made sure to keep his injured side turned away from Jill so that she couldn't see his hand.

"We need to call Matty," Mac said. He pulled out his phone, only to reveal a broken screen. He looked at the others. Jill was holding her phone, which was in even worse shape than Mac's, and she shook her head.

"For once, this is a time when I'm happy to volunteer my phone as tribute," Jack said, not trying especially hard to hide his smugness. He stepped forward and pulled out his phone with a flourish. He froze slightly when he tried to turn it on, but nothing happened. The screen remained stubbornly dark. The results were the same no matter what he tried.

"I don't … I dunno what's goin' on," Jack said sheepishly, trying once again to turn his phone on. He looked at Mac incredulously. "Dude, did it break because it heard you saying we needed a phone? Are you able to psychically break my phones now?"

Mac was about to tell his friend that that was impossible, but Riley beat him to it.

"Jack, when was the last time you charged your phone?"

"I dunno, yesterday mornin' or somethin' like that."

"It probably just died. Don't think I didn't see you playing Temple Run. That drains a battery faster than anything." She pulled out her own phone, ignoring Jack's insistence that the game helped him visualize escape tactics, and that was the only reason he played it. Riley called Matty and put the phone on speaker.

"Riley?"

"Hey Matty, you got all of us here."

"Are you guys okay?"

"Uh, we've been better. We were coming back, but we ran into Baude."

"When you say 'ran into' …?"

"He cut the rope to a bridge we were crossing. Everyone's okay, but a little shaken up."

Jack looked over at Mac with an accusatory stare, but Mac knew his partner and intentionally avoided looking at him, still keeping his hand hidden from sight.

"Matty, listen," Mac added. "I think … I think we should stay up here, help them catch Baude. It's gonna be another hour before the search team makes it up our way, and I know this area. There are a couple places we could set a trap for him."

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Jack asked through his teeth as he smiled tightly at his friend. He pulled Mac to the side and lowered his voice. "Dude, that hand needs to be looked at. We cannot stay up here with a murderer. The rest of us might be field-prepped, but Jill isn't."

That was a fair point. Mac looked over at Jill, who was watching him and Jack with interest. The blond sighed. "My hand is fine. It's got circulation going again, I'll survive until we can get home. As for Jill, you're right. So what if we sent her, Bozer, and Riley home?"

"No way," a new voice interrupted. Mac looked up, surprised. Jill had come over and overheard the last part of their conversation, followed by Bozer and Riley.

"Jill? How much of that did you hear?"

"I know I haven't been in the field before, but that doesn't mean I haven't been trained for it," she insisted. Mac was hoping that since she hadn't mentioned anything about his hand that she hadn't heard that part. "If you guys are staying out here …" She took in a deep breath. "Then I am too."

"Jill, I just don't think-"

"I agree with Jill, blondie," Matty interrupted. "Either you all stay out there and help bring Baude in, or you all come home. I'm not having the group split up like that. So the question is: Do you really think you can catch him?"

Mac looked at his friends. "I do," he finally replied.

"Then do it. We can't let him get away."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Keep me in the loop."

"Will do," Jack assured her.

With that the phone call was over, and Jack looked at his friend. "'Kay Mac. What's the plan?"

Unfortunately for them, while Mac was explaining some of his ideas, none of them noticed the man staring at them through the thick foliage, watching their every move.

 _ **Okay! So thoughts?**_

 _ **Also, really bummed that there's no new episode this week :( Also ... last week's episode ... I have mixed feelings about it. I had my own theory about the ghost that I actually wrote a script for a contest for that dealt with him, and I think I like my version of events better XD What can I say though? it wasn't a terrible episode, I just ... had different ideas on where they could have gone with that particular villain *shrugs***_

 _ **Anyway. Let me know what you think of the chapter!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay, so this is the last chapter. I was maybe going to do an epilogue, but then it just sorta ... ended XD Longer AN at the bottom.**_

 _ **I don't own anything to do with MacGyver.**_

Jack, Bozer, and Riley were off gathering some of the materials Mac needed to catch Baude, while the agent himself was busy setting up traps with things they already had. He was so intent on what he was doing that he didn't notice someone sneaking up behind him until they were right there. He glanced to the side and jumped, closing his eyes as he attempted to calm his heart down.

"Jill," he said, chuckling.

"Sorry," she said as she took one end of the large stick Mac was lifting. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Eh, wasn't so much a scare as it was just making sure my heart's still working," he replied with a light smile. She helped him attach the log to the rope, then they leveraged it up over a tree branch. "How're Jack and the others?" he asked.

"Good, I think. Jack's complaining about not knowing what size of sticks to get, asking why we can't just dig a hole and cover it, stuff like that. So, at least we know he's acting normal," she added with a wink. "They're a little less than half a mile that way." She pointed east, and Mac nodded. Jill looked at what Mac was working on.

"So this one's like a battering ram?" she asked.

"Basically. He trips this rope right here, the log swings, and hopefully he stays down."

Jill didn't respond, and Mac looked over at the young woman. She was staring at the trap, chewing on her lip subconsciously. Mac sighed.

"Look, Jill, about earlier, I—"

"No, it's okay, I get it," she cut him off hurriedly. "I know, I'm not a field agent. I just didn't want to seem like … I couldn't do anything. Especially after the bridge."

"Jill," Mac began. "Listen, you've got nothing to prove. That would have freaked anyone out."

"It didn't freak you out," she said.

"Oh, I was plenty freaked out," Mac assured her.

"Well, you kept your head better than I did."

"Hey." Mac set the stuff he was holding for the trap down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Like you said. I'm a trained field agent. Do you know how long I had to train to not be physically affected by stuff like that?"

Jill hesitated, and Mac continued. "The important thing is we're safe. We'll catch this guy, and then we can go home."

Jill nodded in agreement, and Mac smiled at her reassuringly before turning to pick up his supplies again. As he turned though, he became a little more lax in his attempt to hide his injury, Jill caught sight of the discolored skin.

"MacGyver, what happened?" She made a grab for his injured limb, but Mac managed to pull it out of the way before she could touch it.

"It's nothing," he lied.

"Did that—was that because of me?"

"Jill, it's not your fault," Mac repeated emphatically. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she didn't believe him. "I swear. It's not as bad as it looks."

"How can you even say that?" she asked as she gestured wildly at him. "If, I hadn't frozen on that bridge, if you hadn't had to catch me, we could have gotten across before Baude had the chance to cut the rope!"

Mac scrunched his face up as he searched his memory. "I—we were barely halfway across the bridge," he reminded her. "You didn't freeze until after the first rope was cut."

"Still. We could have run. You could have gotten around. If you hadn't had to save me, I—"

"Jill," Mac cut her off. "You are taking _way_ too much responsibility for something you couldn't control.. None of this is your fault."

"You may say that, Mac, but that doesn't mean that it's true! I—"

"Wait." Mac held up a finger as he motioned for silence.

"Mac, if you're trying to stop me from apologizing, this—"

"No, I'm serious. I think …" The blond didn't have time to finish his thought because at that moment, someone jumped off the branch above them. He landed right on MacGyver's shoulders, knocking the agent to the ground.

Jill shouted in surprise as Mac and Baude began wrestling.

MacGyver grunted as he rolled over on his injured arm, sending pins and needles through the limb. With a kick, Mac sent Baude flying off him, but that didn't keep the convict down. Almost immediately, the man was back on his feet and running at MacGyver. Baude was still holding the sharp piece of metal from when he cut the bridge down, and he proceeded to swing it at the blonde. Mac tried to dodge out of the way, and succeeded for the most part, but he couldn't dodge the attack entirely. The blond hissed in pain as the sharp metal cut through his shoulder.

 _We have to get him to step in one of the traps,_ Mac thought to himself as he pushed through the pain firing in his shoulder and hand.

Jill seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Hey!" she shouted, running past the convict, trying to lead him towards the trip line.

There were at least four different traps set around where Jill was running, and she was able to slyly miss triggering them, but Mac was surprised when Baude also missed them. He thought it might have been just pure luck for the first two that he missed, but as the man danced out of the way of the third trap, Mac's stomach sank. Somehow, Baude knew where each and every one of their traps was laid, and what would set them off.

"Mac?!"

Jill had come to the same conclusion, and she was looking at Mac, wondering what to do. The Phoenix agent knew that they had to try something else.

"Come on!" he said, motioning for him to follow her.

There was an old lookout post less than a mile away from their current location, and Mac was hoping he could find something to help them out. He reached out and grabbed Jill's hand as she neared, and the two of them tore through the growth of trees and plants. Baude chased after them, but Mac kept his eyes forward, searching and scanning for the tower.

Finally it came into sight. Mac finally stole a glance behind them. Baude was too close for both of them to make it up. He knew what he had to do. "Jill," he panted. "You've gotta get up there. Find something to help, let Jack know where we're at."

"What about you?" she asked, also panting.

"Hopefully not die," the blond responded. They'd reached the base of the ladder leading up to the tower, and without waiting for Jill to argue or respond, he pushed her towards the structure before turning around to face Baude.

The convict slowed as he approached MacGyver, an unsettling grin creeping slowly over his face. "So you're the idea man," he stated. Mac didn't bother responding. He just glared at Baude and tensed, preparing for a fight. "I was impressed with what I saw," the convict continued. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Mac jumped forward before he could, forcing Baude into the fight. Mac's hope was that he would use the element of surprise to help him get the upper hand, and it did. For a moment, anyway.

MacGyver was trained for all sorts of combat, including hand-to-hand, and he was good. He just didn't have the use of both hands at the moment, and Baude was still holding the sharp piece of metal. After a few seconds of fighting, Mac was forced to jump back in order to avoid getting another slice from the makeshift weapon.

Baude took the opportunity to lunge forward, swinging the metal in Mac's direction, which the blond was thankfully able to avoid. Baude's fighting was sloppy, definitely untrained, but he was desperate to get away, and desperation can make a person do crazy things they normally couldn't accomplish otherwise. Which meant it was a good thing Mac was also desperate. Desperate to keep his friends safe.

The two squared off again. Baude made a few attempts at an attack, but Mac easily blocked and countered with his own. A blow to his nose and cheek had Baude reeling back in surprise, but he didn't let the injuries keep him down for long.

He straightened back up, but MacGyver ran around him and jumped on the man's back, wrapping his arms around his opponent's neck. The convict began gagging, and his fingers scrambled over Mac's arms. The blond winced as he felt the metal dig into his skin, but he didn't let go. This wasn't the first time he'd piggy-backed someone to take them down, and while it was never as easy as the movies made it seem, Mac still managed to hold on. At least until Baude's head connected with Mac's nose. Stars exploded in Mac's vision as he released his hold on Baude and fell to the ground, but he pushed through the pain and rolled back to his feet.

Baude had backed away gasping as he tried to get his breath back, but when he saw the agent getting back to his feet, he immediately charged. Mac saw the other man jumping for him, and he was able to simply duck down and let Baude fly straight over his back. When Mac turned around to finish the fight though, he was met with a branch in the face. Instinctively Mac closed his eyes, so he avoided getting them scratched, but the rest of his face wasn't so lucky. He could feel the stinging of fresh cuts, and a drop or two of blood even began making their way down his face.

Thankfully, Baude was still holding the metal in one hand, so his grip on the branch wasn't as strong as it could have been, and MacGyver was able to yank the wood out of the man's hands with relative ease.

The Phoenix agent was about to go in with another attack, this one aimed for the stomach, but a sudden _bang_ and a bright red light from above distracted him.

Mac glanced up and saw a rocket flying into the sky. _Flare gun,_ he thought proudly. _That'll definitely work_.

Now that they'd hopefully gotten Jack's attention, Mac turned back to the fight at hand, only to realize a second too late that by letting himself get distracted, he'd opened himself up for an attack from Baude, who hadn't paid any attention to the flare.

A kick to the stomach sent the blond stumbling back. He blocked the next attack, a kick aimed for his kneecaps, but was too slow to stop the following uppercut. As he fell backwards, he tried to catch himself, but he landed on his injured arm, and ended up crashing to the ground anyway. Baude didn't waste any time. He ran and stood over MacGyver, the metal raised high.

Mac watched Baude at first, but something above the convict caught the agent's eye. Baude didn't seem to notice, scoffing slightly as his weapon began descending.

Mac waited until the last possible moment, then rolled out of the way right as Baude's makeshift weapon should have entered his gut. The convict didn't have enough time to recover and try again though, because at that moment, something crashed down on him from the sky, knocking him to the ground. Without another minute of hesitation, MacGyver lunged forward and planted his boot against Baude's forehead, and the man went limp as he fell unconscious.

As he pulled off his belt to secure the newly-caught convict's arms behind his back, Mac looked over at the large box that had been Baude's downfall. Then, he turned his gaze up and saw Jill staring down at him, hand covering her mouth.

"Are … are you okay?" she called down. MacGyver looked at Baude, then back up at Jill.

"Yeah. I'm good."

"I'm coming down!" She disappeared from the platform, and a few moments later, she appeared at the top of the ladder, making her way down as fast as she could.

MacGyver finished securing Baude's hands just as Jill got to the ground, and he brushed off his hands as she came closer.

"You sure you're okay?" Jill asked, her eyes immediately going to his injured hand. Mac nodded.

"Thanks to you," he replied. "You saved my life." He smiled at her, and a bit of red crept into her cheeks.

"Oh no, I'm sure you would have found another way out of the situation. I didn't do anyth-" She caught Mac's expression, one of amusement mixed with exasperation. "I mean … you're welcome."

At that moment, Jack, Bozer, and Riley came crashing through the trees. Jack's fists were raised as if he were getting ready for a fight. The older agent paused when he saw Mac and Jill standing over the body, and he lowered his fists. The older man stared at MacGyver, taking in his scratched face and arms, along with the blood covering the back of his shirt when Mac turned around. Jack was clearly going to ask what had happened, but Bozer beat him to it.

"So uh … what happened to trapping him?" Bozer asked.

"Didn't go quite as planned," replied Mac.

"Does it ever?" Riley asked as she crouched down next to Baude, snapping a picture of the man and texting it to Matty.

"No, no it does not," Jack said, crossing his arms and staring at Mac. The blond gave his friend an innocent shrug.

"What?" Mac asked.

"You know this is why we shouldn't go out and try to do physical things, right? Because of stuff like this?"

Mac gave his partner a weird look. "How often have you gone out hiking and gotten attacked by an escaped convict?"

"Well, okay, now this is a first, but seriously dude. You're like a trouble magnet."

"How am I a trouble magnet?"

"No matter where we go, it seems like every week we're getting into some new trouble, whether it's at work or not."

"Jack, correlation doesn't equal causation," Mac quipped at his friend. Jack glared at the blond.

"When it concerns you, I think it does. Are you going to explain what happened or not?"

"Are you gonna keep calling me a trouble magnet or not?" Mac danced out of the way as Jack grabbed for him, the blond unable to stop his smirk as Jack ground out threats he didn't mean at all.

Finally, MacGyver explained what had happened, ending with Jill dropping the large box of old equipment on top of the convict. "And that's when you guys got here," he finished. Everyone looked at Jill, impressed.

"Jill, you just saved your first damsel!" Jack said proudly, clapping her on the shoulder and making a face at Mac. "How's it feel?"

Mac threw up his hands in slight exasperation, but it was all play. He was glad Jill had been there, because if she hadn't, he'd have several more holes in his body than were necessary.

Matty chose that moment to call them, giving Mac a Jill a reprieve from the good-natured teasing from the team. Okay, mostly just from Jack.

Matty let them know that the search party was only a few minutes away, and to sit tight. As the group stood around their downed convict waiting for the cops, Mac looked at his group of friends. Maybe Jack was right. Maybe trouble sought him out. But he also knew that no matter what trouble any of them got into, they were always going to be there to get each other out. And even if that meant Jack mother-henning him for the next week as his cuts and scrapes healed, Mac wouldn't want it any other way.

 _ **Okay, so what did you think? Like I said in the first chapter, I wasn't planning on this being a huge multi-chapter story, just a quick little thing, but what did you all think?**_

 _ **Sorry it took me a while to post it. I'm at my parent's house, and their wifi really doesn't like me. Like at all.**_

 _ **Also! For those of you who have asked if I'm going to finish Vixen, fear not! I have it open and I'm looking at it, seeing where I left off and such! So hopefully it'll get updated soon :)**_

 ** _Also, I feel like my last few stories have ended rather abruptly. I just haven't been writing as much as I should recently (Stupid tv shows that I can't stop binging), and I think I'm just out of practice, so I apologize for how abrupt this is *toothy grin*_**

 ** _Anyway. Lemme know what you guys think, and thanks so much for supporting this story like you amazing people always do!_**


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